Jamie (29 page)

“Why didn't you just leave?” Jamie asked, feeling his own measure of guilt over how Delayna had died.

“I never touched her,” Doug insisted, stepping back, separating himself from Becky.

Like a film on fast-forward, that awful day flashed through Jamie's mind. The hysterical way Delayna had tried to guard Cory's identity, her blind panic at the idea of being exposed. She'd attacked, as fierce in her protectiveness as Faith would have been.

“There was a scuffle,” Jamie said, regret and forgiveness burning away old resentment. Delayna had died trying to protect his daughter. How could he not forgive her? “She confronted you on the basement steps. She tried to stop you from leaving.”

Doug nodded. “It was Becky. She shoved Delayna. I never touched her. But the way she fell... there was nothing I could do.”

Refocusing on the coward in front of him, Jamie growled, “She was still alive when you left her, Doug.”

“
No.
”

“If you'd called the paramedics, if you'd alerted anyone, Delayna probably would have recovered from her internal injuries. Instead, you left her there to die.”

Enraged, Doug faced Becky. “You said she was dead!”

“Don't be an idiot.” The gun found a new target as Becky tried circling away. Her nervous steps took her closer to Jamie. “If we'd called anyone, it would have ruined our plans.”

Lifting the gun in both hands, Becky tried to fend Doug off.

He stalked her. “You said she was dead. You said he wouldn't be able to get in our heads. You said we'd both be rich and that no one would get hurt. You... you lied to me. You dragged me into this mess—”

A siren blared and lights flashed, delivering lots of fanfare to disrupt the drama.

Clint arrived at the scene.

He slammed the brakes of his cruiser, and the car spun sideways before coming to a halt. A second later, a rifle appeared over the top of the open door. In his deep, carrying voice, Clint shouted, “Drop the gun. Now.”

Everything happened too fast.

“Nooo.
” Becky twisted around, taking aim at Jamie. “You can't ruin all my plans.”

Doug turned to flee into the woods.

Faith screamed, racing toward Jamie. He didn't have time to stop her. He didn't have time to protect her.

Becky fired once, twice.

Jamie saw the contorted agony in Faith's expression; he heard her gasp as the echo of gunfire faded away. Anguish exploded inside him, shattering his heart.
Faith.

Oblivious to everything and everyone except Faith, Jamie barely noticed when Becky turned to flee into the woods, only to be drawn up short when Alyx materialized like an avenging angel and, with one sharp pop in the nose, knocked Becky out.

Joe cursed, shouting his sister's name.

Clint roared orders.

Faith staggered to a halt at Jamie's side. Her face was ravaged with visible pain, her hands reaching for him.

Oh God, no. Faith was his heart. Without her, he'd go back to being cold and alone. He'd be empty. He couldn't bear that.

“Faith?” Jamie wrapped his arms around her, but she fought him, rejecting his touch, his comfort. He couldn't get any words to come out. He felt sticky blood covering his arm.

Her lips moved, and she whispered urgently, “Jamie?”

He could barely hear her over the roar in his head. He'd promised Cory that her mommy wouldn't be hurt. He'd thought he could protect them both.

He'd failed miserably. Again.

Suddenly Clint was there, taking his arm, trying to pry him away from Faith. “Jamie, sit down. It'll be okay. Let me take a look.”

Jamie didn't want to let her go. “I'm sorry,” he said. “Jesus, Faith, I'm sorry.”

“Shhh.” Big tears spilled down her cheeks. “Jamie,
please.
Let Joe and Clint help you.”

Help him? Confused, Jamie stared at Faith, saw the blood on her shirt and the whiteness of her face. His contracted fingers wouldn't relax. “Don't leave me, Faith.”

She sobbed once, then touched his cheek. “Never. I swear. Now please, Jamie, you're bleeding. Let me go so they can help you.”

The words registered, and when they did, a searing pain pierced his consciousness. “Son of a bitch,” Jamie said in shock. “I'm shot.”

Joe chuckled. “Yeah, no kidding.”

Jamie's hold abruptly loosened, and Faith stepped back. He caught the hem of her shirt. “You're okay?”

“Yes.”

“You swear it?”

Her composure disintegrated, and she swiped at her eyes, talking around her tears. “Scared to death, sick in love with you—but other than that, I'm fine.”

Jamie slumped, his ass making contact with the gravel road hard enough to wrench a groan from him. “Sick... ?”

“In
love
with you.” More tears fell. “Damn you, you stubborn man. With everything you know, you hadn't figured that out yet?”

Oxygen finally filled Jamie's lungs. He shook his head. “No, I...” He smiled, shrugged his shoulders, then winced at the pain that caused. “Well, thank God.” Then he frowned. “Where's Cory?”

Faith stared at him, dumbfounded by his reaction, before replying. “My mother has her. She says you'll be okay. Tell me she's right, Jamie.”

Everything went foggy as Jamie tried to concentrate. His relief was so great, he couldn't find a single reading, but male ego had him snorting, and he said, “Of course I'll be fine.”

Concentrating on the facts restored his wits. Bryan loomed over Doug. He wasn't dead, but he did have Joe's knife sticking out of his upper arm. The creep wouldn't be sneaking away anytime soon.

Becky, her nose bloody, was starting to moan. Bruce stood over her, holding her gun, unsympathetic to her injuries.

“Clint,” Jamie asked, “did you shoot anyone?”

“No, I just hit the dirt, to make the woman jump and throw off her aim.”

“You didn't throw it off enough,” Faith grouched, and her hand slipped into Jamie's. “You should have just shot her.”

Joe grinned. “Damn, she's starting to sound like my sister.”

“And thank God for your sister,” Faith added. “If it wasn't for her, Becky might have gotten away.”

Joe rubbed his ear. “Yeah. You could be right.”

Peering at his shoulder where Clint mopped at the blood and examined the wound, Jamie grunted. “Hell, it's just a graze.”

Irate, Faith stared at him. “You were shot. ”

“No, he's right,” Joe said. “It's not deep. The hospital will clean and stitch it, but it's not bad at all. He'll be fine.” Then Joe glared at Jamie. “So why the hell did you look like you were dying, damn it? You scared ten years off my life.”

Jamie tightened his hold on Faith's hand and struggled to his feet. Joe hurried to assist him, as did Clint.

“Well?” Clint asked. “I'm a little curious about that myself.”

Feeling like an idiot, Jamie confessed, “I thought Faith was the one hit.”

Stunned by that confession, Faith pressed her hands to her mouth. “You couldn't feel it?”

“I felt something, all right.” Jamie put his forehead to hers, and his voice lowered to a strained whisper. “I thought it was the pain of seeing you hurt.”

Both Clint and Joe nodded in understanding.

As Scott joined the chaos, shouting Alyx's name, Jamie laughed. Damn, it seemed the whole of Visitation had come to his reckoning.

Forcing himself to stand on his own, he looked around. “I want to see Cory.”

“Here I am.” The little girl stepped out from behind him, fear still etched in her features. Her dark eyes met his, and her thoughts were so clear.
I thought you were going to leave me. I thought you were hurt bad.

Jamie put his hand to the top of her silky hair. “I'm sorry, baby. I didn't mean to scare you.”

Cory chewed her lips. “I knew you wouldn't let Mommy get hurt. But I didn't know...”

He nodded. “It's not always clear for me, either.” A finger beneath her rounded chin, Jamie tipped her face up. “We'll work on it.”

Sounding world-weary and resigned, Cory sighed. “I know.”

Jamie looked at Faith, at Tracy, at his friends, and at his daughter. He chuckled, and the chuckle turned into a laugh.

“Jamie,” Faith protested. “Come on. I want to get you to the hospital.”

Jamie agreed, just so Faith wouldn't fret. Not that he cared about a little gunshot wound. After all, his life was looking pretty damn good.

 

 

The hospital waiting room bulged at the seams. Jamie felt like an ass, drawing so much attention, but not a single soul would be dissuaded from going along, worrying about him... caring.

According to Joe, who had just led Faith to him in the sterile room, Cory sat with Bruce and Bryan, keeping them entertained while Alyx and Scott played kissy-face in the hallway and Clint paced, angry that he'd allowed Jamie to be hurt. The women, including Faith's mother, were huddled together making plans. Joe had said the last in a rather ominous way, making Jamie wonder just what type of plans they made.

Now, with his wound cleaned and dressed, Jamie looked at Faith—and reached out a hand for her. Face crumbling, she rushed to him, and Joe, being rather intuitive himself, said, “I'll, ah, wait with the others.”

Jamie didn't bother to reply.

He pulled Faith close enough to kiss her. “Shhh. Please don't cry.”

“I won't.”

But tears tracked her cheeks, and Jamie smiled. “It's okay, you know. I understand why you couldn't tell me about Cory.”

“I didn't even know where to find you!” She pressed her face into his throat, her breaths uneven. “Until Cory told me, I had no idea where to look. But she didn't tell me that I was the one who might get hurt.”

Smoothing Faith's unruly hair, Jamie said, “She knew you wouldn't have sought me out just to protect yourself.”

Faith shook her head. “You've had more than your fair share of heartache. I would never have deliberately brought you more.”

Jamie nuzzled her cheek. Even with his arm throbbing, in a crowded hospital, Faith could turn him on.

“Why didn't you tell me that Delayna was Cory's mother?”

“Oh God, Jamie, I'm so—”

“Shhh.” He pressed his fingers to her lips. “No more apologizing.”

Her lips trembled, and she drew a steadying breath before nodding agreement. “I wanted to tell you. But Cory said you had to care first, so that you'd know to trust your instincts when everything happened. She said you'd know when you saw her that she was your daughter.”

“You told her?”

“Yes.” Faith touched his face. “She had all those abilities, and I wanted her to know that she'd gotten them from the most amazing man.”

Jamie waited.

“But... when I told you I worked for Delayna, you were so furious. You... you told me—”

“That I hated that bitch and anyone associated with her.”

Faith nodded. “Yes.”

“I was wrong, Faith.” What Jamie felt was as far from cold hatred as an emotion could get.

Very slowly, with utmost care, Faith put her arms around him. “I'm glad.”

While giving her a one-arm hug, Jamie explained what had happened, now that he finally understood. “Becky was pretending to be a vigilante. She had some harebrained plan to get me off the mountain so she could grab me. She thought curiosity alone would force me to interfere.”

“I'm surprised you didn't figure all that out sooner.”

“Alyx had me confused.” He grinned, then shook his head. “Here she was, following Becky, stealing a dog, always on the scene, but not the cause of it. And Alyx wanted me off the mountain too, so she could force me to accept them all.” The grin faded. “Becky just wanted me so she could lure you in.” His hug tightened with the memory of how close the bullet had come to Faith.

“She knew I was with you, then?”

“After she killed Delayna, she knew Cory would feel the threats, and she figured the only person you'd be able to go to would be me.”

“Well.” Faith pushed back with a shaky smile on her face. “She was right.” After straightening her hair and wiping away the remnants of tears, Faith folded her hands in front of her. She looked nervous, and Jamie fought the urge to steal her thoughts.

“Are you ready to go? Your daughter is very anxious to get to know you better, and Joe said we ... that is, he invited us to stay with him awhile....”

Jamie put his good arm around her and led her to the door. “I hope you said yes, because I'm not letting you out of my sight.”

Faith's smile became genuine. “I said yes.”

 

 

Two weeks after that awful debacle, Julie and Clint's wedding day came with a burst of sunshine and a gentle breeze. There'd been no question of Jamie's attending the wedding, given that he, Faith, Cory, and Tracy were still ensconced in Joe's house. Not an ideal situation, but Jamie couldn't see dragging Tracy and Cory up the mountain where they'd be short on beds and entertainment.

Jamie still wore a sling on his arm, but only because Faith insisted on following the doctor's orders to the letter. He felt fine. Better than fine. More than able to make love to her without the stupid sling getting in his way.

Not that a single female seemed inclined to believe him.

Not only did he have Luna and Shay, Cyn and Julie checking on him daily, but Faith's mother had joined their ranks. And Tracy was a woman who knew how to pamper.